McSweeney’s Just Skewered Start-Up Cliches

Marco Kaye just dropped some hard truth about start-up cliches. Some of these hit just a little too close to home. Go ahead and practice cringing and laughing (Craughing? Linging?) at the same time:

Good people are especially prone to bad ideas, son. But at an Internet start-up, right and wrong become murky. One gets caught up in the hoopla. That seemingly innocent strategy session leads to late-night hackathons. Those become, oh god, launch schedules and tech conferences. Before you know it—bang—you’re inside a horribly decorated start-up, Razor scootering from one cubicle to another. And there’s no turning back. All your jokes become meme-based. Some dreadlocked hacktavist named Rumble will start crashing on your couch. Finally, you’ll change your Twitter bio to simply read, “maker.” Which is when I will disown you.

Ryan Galloway

Ryan Galloway

Ryan Galloway is Director of Branded Content Services @Contently and the former Editor at The Hired Guns. He’s also an experienced freelance writer who covers a range of topics, but his real wheelhouse is jobs and employment trends. Follow @ryan_e_galloway.